The earliest village settlements appear in north Mesopotamia from around 8000 B.C. The people combined hunting and gathering with keeping animals and growing cereals. They became more and more dependent upon domesticated animals and cereals as time went on. The first evidence for ploughs in Mesopotamia only appears at the end of the fourth millennium B.C. as pictographs on the clay tablets from Uruk. It is a beam-ard, a simple machine which scratches a furrow without turning the soil and this changed little in design throughout the whole of Mesopotamian history. They were pulled by oxen. Seed ploughs, with a funnel through which seed was dropped into the furrow, are depicted on seals from at least 2300 B.C. onwards.
Most farmers made do with tools made from locally available clay, stone and timber. Workers on palace and temple estates were sometimes issued with copper-alloy tools from the third millennium B.C., and with iron equipment from the early first millennium B.C., though they were always subject to close control because metal was expensive.
In the south there isn't sufficient rainfall to grow crops without access to river water. The southern plain was crossed by numerous streams, branching from the main Tigris and Euphrates. Water could easily be led to nearby land in ditches. Gradually a larger network of canals and waterways was created. The very fertile soil allowed enormous surpluses to be generated. The main crops were barley and wheat.
The Sumerians had gardens shaded by tall date palms where they grew peas, beans and lentils, vegetables like cucumbers, leeks, lettuces and garlic, and fruit such as grapes, apples, melons and figs. Later other foods were grown like onions, beetroot, turnips, pears, pomegranates, nuts and various herbs. In the south the most important crop was the date. Further north, in Assyria, it is too cold in the winter for the date to fruit.
The agricultural season started with ploughing and sowing in late October or November ready for the rains. If the rains delayed coming then famine followed; hence administrators reported directly to the king concerning rain and crops. Harvest was at the end of April until June. Floods came in early spring when the snow melted in the mountains, just as the crops were ripening. Flood waters were led off into swampy, unused land.
From around 4000 B.C. milk from sheep, goats and cows was used to make butter. Meat was largely reserved for the elite. They ate sheep, goats, beef and poultry. Delicacies included gazelle, mice and locusts. Drying, salting and smoking fish was important (see Food and Cooking). Sheep and goats were also important for their wool and hair. The sheep's fleece was plucked (combed out) rather than shorn. The Standard of Ur shows that sheep and goat were being bred for their long fleeces by 2600 B.C.
Many different types of animals lived in Mesopotamia. By at least 7000 B.C. sheep, goat and pig had been domesticated. Sheep were very important and provided wool, meat, dairy products and fertilizer - and were valuable as sacrifices in religious ceremonies.
From around 6000 B.C. cattle were domesticated and were used for food and sacrifices. The use of milk products didn't take place until after 4000 B.C. Oxen were used to pull ploughs, wagons and haul boats against the current of rivers. Their hides were also useful.
From around 4000 B.C. donkeys were used to carry heavy loads - on their backs or pulling carts - and for riding; horses were used from the third millennium as pack animals and in the second millennium to pull chariots.
Some animals had religious significance, or were associated with kingship. Thus, when animals appear on Mesopotamian monuments, they are often symbolic.
Wild animals roamed the jungles of vegetation along the riverbanks or lived in the deserts to the west. They included lions, leopards, wild cattle, boar, deer, gazelle, ostrich, vultures and eagles. It was the duty of the king to protect his people from them and the lion hunt became the royal sport.